Lone downtown project bid still over budget

Renewal work could be shelved if adequate funds can't be found

Published: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 at 11:39 p.m.

TUSCALOOSA | After a second round of bids, the price tag for Phase II of the city's Downtown Urban Renewal Project is still too high.

The sole bid, submitted by John Plott Co. of Tuscaloosa, was $6.797 million, or about $740,000 more than the $6.057 million budgeted.

This work, which will improve streetscapes as well as storm and sanitary sewer systems in parts of downtown Tuscaloosa, is being funded primarily with federal dollars. The only local funds required are what constitutes the shortfall.

If completed, the work will add to the more than $100 million in downtown work that has been done in recent years as part of the Downtown Urban Renewal Project's first phase.

City Engineer David Griffin said Tuesday that he has gone through the 229 line items in the contract bid to find savings and has amassed a total of $198,000.

“The task was to try and find some things in the project to cut and reduce the cost of the total contract,” Griffin said.

The City Council's Public Projects Committee granted his request to reduce the project's $250,000 contingency fund to $100,000 and apply the $150,000 toward the work. The contingency fund was set aside to cover unforeseen expenses.

Griffin said he plans to use the next week to comb through the city's spectrum of capital improvement projects to see if he can come up with the remaining $600,000 to cover the shortfall.

The city engineer said he hoped to find the necessary funds. However, if he cannot, he said he will recommend the City Council shelve the project until funds become available.

“We're just trying to get the best product for the best price,” Griffin said.

This is the second time the City Council has sought bids for this project. The first round of bids were rejected in October after the lowest one came in at $9.57 million, or about $2.06 million over budget.

In November, a scaled-back version of the project was adopted in an attempt to bring the project under the budgeted amount, but Griffin said the lone bid received on Feb. 20 was still too high.

The original plan included sidewalk and street improvements for the south side of Seventh Street and both sides of Eighth Street between 21st and 23rd avenues, as well as an underground storm water drain on 22nd Avenue and an underground sanitary sewer line improvement on 21st Avenue.

The alternative choice that was recommended by the council's Public Projects Committee included a basic option of performing just the streetscape work along the south side of Seventh Street between 21st and 23rd avenues as well as adding streetscape work along Seventh Avenue between 21st and 20th avenues, which was not part of the original design.

This option also retained the sanitary sewer line upgrade under 21st Avenue after the committee decided the utility improvements were a needed to handle the continuing residential and commercial growth downtown.

<p>TUSCALOOSA | After a second round of bids, the price tag for Phase II of the city's Downtown Urban Renewal Project is still too high.</p><p>The sole bid, submitted by John Plott Co. of Tuscaloosa, was $6.797 million, or about $740,000 more than the $6.057 million budgeted.</p><p>This work, which will improve streetscapes as well as storm and sanitary sewer systems in parts of downtown Tuscaloosa, is being funded primarily with federal dollars. The only local funds required are what constitutes the shortfall.</p><p>If completed, the work will add to the more than $100 million in downtown work that has been done in recent years as part of the Downtown Urban Renewal Project's first phase.</p><p>City Engineer David Griffin said Tuesday that he has gone through the 229 line items in the contract bid to find savings and has amassed a total of $198,000.</p><p>“The task was to try and find some things in the project to cut and reduce the cost of the total contract,” Griffin said.</p><p>The City Council's Public Projects Committee granted his request to reduce the project's $250,000 contingency fund to $100,000 and apply the $150,000 toward the work. The contingency fund was set aside to cover unforeseen expenses.</p><p>Griffin said he plans to use the next week to comb through the city's spectrum of capital improvement projects to see if he can come up with the remaining $600,000 to cover the shortfall.</p><p>The city engineer said he hoped to find the necessary funds. However, if he cannot, he said he will recommend the City Council shelve the project until funds become available.</p><p>“We're just trying to get the best product for the best price,” Griffin said.</p><p>This is the second time the City Council has sought bids for this project. The first round of bids were rejected in October after the lowest one came in at $9.57 million, or about $2.06 million over budget.</p><p>In November, a scaled-back version of the project was adopted in an attempt to bring the project under the budgeted amount, but Griffin said the lone bid received on Feb. 20 was still too high.</p><p>The original plan included sidewalk and street improvements for the south side of Seventh Street and both sides of Eighth Street between 21st and 23rd avenues, as well as an underground storm water drain on 22nd Avenue and an underground sanitary sewer line improvement on 21st Avenue.</p><p>The alternative choice that was recommended by the council's Public Projects Committee included a basic option of performing just the streetscape work along the south side of Seventh Street between 21st and 23rd avenues as well as adding streetscape work along Seventh Avenue between 21st and 20th avenues, which was not part of the original design.</p><p>This option also retained the sanitary sewer line upgrade under 21st Avenue after the committee decided the utility improvements were a needed to handle the continuing residential and commercial growth downtown.</p><p>Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0200.</p>